1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to plastic laminates and to a method of making such laminates. Particularly the invention relates to shaped articles, either flat or 3-D. More particularly the invention relates to integral or unitary laminates and preferably to those made from polyurethane.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Plastic laminates (composites) of two or more layers of material, especially those including a layer of soft foam (flexible, compressible) material, are well known. For many uses, it is necessary that the laminate have a more or less rigid configuration. For example, a motor cycle seat or the cushion back of a chair or automobile seat. These rigid articles are conventionally made by attaching a rigid backing material to the plastic laminate, such as: plywood, paper board, paper box sheeting, or some sort of plastic sheeting.
The rigid backing is difficult to apply in the case of many 3-D articles. Also these rigid backings are not always "permanently" adhered and come loose or come off in use. Also these rigid backings are costly in materials and in production labor.
The primary object of this invention is a rigid plastic laminate wherein the rigid plastic backing member (substrate) is integrally adhered to a soft foam filler member which in turn is adhered to a cover member (superstrate) to form an integral (unitary) rigid laminated article, either flat or 3-D, thereby avoiding the problems associated with the non-integral rigid backing of the prior art. Other objects will be apparent from the description of the invention.
U.S. patents of interest to the invention are:
______________________________________ Number Granted ______________________________________ 3,256,131 June, 1966 3,264,166 August, 1966 3,503,822 March, 1970 3,903,919 January, 1976 3,941,633 March, 1976 ______________________________________